8 Actors in the Running to Play Iron Man Before Robert Downey Jr. (Someone Outright Turned the Role Down!)

Robert Downey Jr. is one of the first of many truly perfect casting decisions that Marvel made when building the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, he was very nearly not cast as Iron Man.

The Oscar-winning actor kickstarted the MCU with the first Iron Man movie in 2008. Now, it’s abundantly clear that he is the “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist” that is Tony Stark.

After entering the franchise, he played the iconic hero in 10 movies. He seemingly exited the role with 2019′s Avengers...